Thomas Kelly | Creative Soulz Printing
Owner/Founder of Creative Soulz Printing
Thomas Kelly, the founder of Creative Soulz Printing, shares his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he's learned along the way. From starting his business by accident in 2019 to navigating the challenges of growth, Thomas discusses how he found his focus and built a thriving print business.
What businesses do you run?
Thomas Kelly is the owner and founder of Creative Soulz Printing, a business that specializes in a wide variety of print solutions. The company offers everything from traditional print products such as business cards, banners, labels, and flyers, to large-format graphics. Whether it’s custom printing for windows, walls, doors, and floors, or promotional items like custom bags, pens, and cups, Creative Soulz Printing serves clients with unique and high-quality designs.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
Thomas’s journey into entrepreneurship wasn’t a planned venture. In the summer of 2019, he was working on a project for his church—designing the program for their Youth Day event. Typically, he would design the program and outsource the printing. But when the printer stopped working at the last minute, Thomas decided to take action. He bought his first printer from Best Buy and printed the programs himself. That moment marked the beginning of Creative Soulz Printing.
How do you think about growth in your current business? How do you plan for the future?
Thomas emphasizes the importance of mental toughness as an entrepreneur. “You have to be your own biggest supporter,” he says. “You have to believe you can do this because you can.” He acknowledges that entrepreneurship is challenging, with periods of financial success followed by leaner months. But staying focused on the bigger picture is key to long-term growth.
For Thomas, the journey of growing Creative Soulz Printing involves finding a balance—focusing on projects that align with the business’s strengths and financial goals, while also adapting to the changing needs of the market. He plans for the future by ensuring the company is positioned to offer innovative print solutions, expanding into areas that continue to offer value to clients, and fostering strong relationships with both existing and new customers.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
To aspiring entrepreneurs unsure of taking the leap, Thomas has a clear message: “Go for it'“. He explains, “You won’t know until you try. Whatever business idea you’re sitting on, trust me—you’ll regret it if you see someone else making money from that same idea, years down the road while you held back.”
He also stresses that mistakes are part of the process. There will be times when you feel like you’re doing something wrong, and that’s okay. “You’re going to make mistakes, but that’s part of learning and growing,” Thomas says. The key is to take that first step, get out there, and try, because that’s where true growth happens.
“The mental capacity of an entrepreneur has to be strong. You have to be your biggest supporter”
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Thomas Kelly 0:00
My name is Thomas Kelly. I am the owner and founder of creative souls printing, where we specialize in a variety of print solutions. We have traditional prints, like business cards, banners, labels, flyers, and we also do large format graphics. So if you need anything custom for Windows, walls, doors and floors. We handle those as well. And we have promotional items, all the swag items, like your custom bags, your pens, cups, all of that. We offer that as well. So I got started as an entrepreneur, not on purpose, honestly, back in the summer of 2019, I was doing a lot of projects for my church. And this particular one, I was designing the program for our Youth Day. And typically, I would design it and they would get somebody else to print the program. Well, this particular time, the individual was not able to print at the last minute, so I went to Best Buy. Bought my first printer, printed the programs at the house, and that's how creative souls printing was formed.
Early on, I wanted to take on every challenge, every project possible, especially being new to entrepreneurship, of course, wanting to gain the trust of my clients. That actually was not a good thing. And I learned that after about a year in business, I had to realize there are certain projects that I like to work on and are beneficial to me and financially good for me. But I also had to decide, you know, what is it that creative souls printing wants to be known for the mental capacity of an entrepreneur, has to be strong. You have to be your biggest supporter. You have to believe that you can do this because you can, and it can be tough. There are going to be good times and there are going to be bad times. You're gonna have wealthy months and you're gonna have not so wealthy months, but you as an entrepreneur have to stay focused. It can take a toll on your mental and your physical sometimes. So I always like to tell people to to have some type of support system of other entrepreneurs that are going through the same thing you're going through to someone who is an aspiring entrepreneur and not sure if they should take that leap, I would say, go for it. You won't know until you try whatever that business idea is that you're sitting on. Trust me, you will kick yourself if years later you see someone else had that same idea and they are making money from it, and you're not. You are going to have times where you're going to feel like I'm doing something wrong, and you you are.
It's okay. You're going to make mistakes. But that's part of learning, and that's part of growing. But the first step is to get out there and try.
